Marshall Tucker, Marshall Dillon, Marshall Swift

[David S. Roberson]

I'm thinking of ordering the Marshall Valuation Service Book & Commercial Cost Explorer CD combo for $362.95. This is some kind of promo offer at a reduced rate for the combination. I use the residential book, tempered by local builder's costs (which I find are actually lower than the MS cost in my market). I used to use the Marshall Valuation Service when I was learning under a commercial MAI (early 70's), so I am somewhat familiar with it. My questions are:

1. Does the Cost Explorer CD have any forms in it, or is it just data?

2. HUD & Rural Development require page numbers from the Residential Handbook. Will the page numbers from the Valuation Service correspond to the Handbook, and if not, will this cause problems in review?

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

I think what you describe is merely a digital copy of the book. The program with print out is more expensive. The new Res. Tech. Disk is about $600 I think, and it is only for Insurance purposes, estimating RECONSTRUCTION not REPLACEMENT COST.

I used it to calculate my own home as an example and it was $20,000 higher than my Boeckh or my appraisal from last year.

Got to thinking. Does M & S really think it would cost $20K to demolish my house, clean up the yard and start all over again???? Bullfeathers. This disk is worthless and any insurance company using is must be brain dead. It is the reason I intend to stop using Marshall and Swift altogether. I have to deal with enough fairy tales the way it is. A $40 Craftsman Book is more accurate than this.

ter

 

[Restrain]

If you do enough new FHA construction to warrant using Marshall-Swift, then get it. After all, some pencil pusher will ding you otherwise. Otherwise, I would just develop my own costs and get on with life. There's enough on-line data to pretty much figure out what you need.

ROger

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Somewhere in my office is a faxed letter from Boeckh circa about 1995 which the chief valuation man at FHA sent to Boeckh and said Boeckh's database was sufficiently accurate and it was acceptable for FHA appraisals. Tell that to the Govt bureaucrat that insists other wise.